


Serenity

by hesdeadjim



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 10:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hesdeadjim/pseuds/hesdeadjim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ambassador Soval babysits Erika and Jonathan's 4 year old daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Serenity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeredithBrody](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithBrody/gifts).



### Chapter 1: Roses are Red, The Sky is Blue

Soval’s eldest, Tu’Pari, had been a massive pain the the rear. So had all his children, really--something T’Penna had insisted they got from their father.

She was right, of course. She was always right.

When Erika and Jonathan had introduced their new baby to her and Soval, T’Penna immediately declared that the child had her mother’s personality.

Never was that more apparent than in this moment.

“NO!”

“Really, now. It is only for a little while. I promise I don’t bite.”

Serena, now aged 4, threw herself on the ground and banged her little fists on the floor.

“NONONONONONO _NO!_ ”

Soval looked up at Jon and Erika, who were hovering in the doorway, about to leave on a dinner date. Jon looked slightly concerned as he watched his daughter express her displeasure at being left in the care of the aging Ambassador. Erika just looked irritated.

“ _Rena--_ ” Erika began. Soval put up his hand.

“Do not worry, I can take care of this,” Soval told her.

“You sure?”

Soval nodded and reached down to scoop the child up off the floor. Soval liked children, and he was quite good with them--even stubborn human children. Serena squirmed in his arms for a minute. Seeming to realize that she could not break free of Soval’s grasp, she turned to glare at her parents with a look of utmost betrayal. Jon smiled sheepishly at her, and Erika gave her a ‘I love you but you’re a pain’ smile before kissing Serena on the cheek.

“See you later, love. Comm if there are any problems, Ambassador.” With a final wave, they departed, Serena pouting intensely all the while.

Parents out of sight, Serena turned her determined pout on Soval. Bemused, Soval noted that she looked very much like Jonathan when she glared at him like that.

“None of that,” he told her, “let’s see you keep up that face all night.” Serena narrowed her eyes as if accepting the challenge. Soval wasn’t worried.

“Fine. If you would like to pout for the rest of the evening, I shall not stop you.” He then set her down on the sofa and sat in a meditative posture on the floor. He closed his eyes and waited. In a herculean display of stubbornness, Serena ignored him for exactly 6.7 minutes. Then Soval heard the sofa creak as Serena hopped off of it and slowly approached him. Soval pretended not to notice her.

“Do Vulcans know everything?” Soval opened his eyes and regarded Serena. She had taken a seat opposite him on the floor and was sitting criss-cross, mimicking his meditation pose.

“Not everything. But I am old, I know a great many things.”

“Why’s the sky blue, then?” Soval raised his eyebrows at the question.

“It is a phenomenon called the Tyndall Effect. Named after a Terran physicist, it involves the scattering of light through a transparent sol--”

“The tin doll effect?” she giggled.

Soval paused again realizing that it might be a bit soon for physics. Switching tactics, he said “But you know, the sky is not blue on every planet.” Serena’s eyes went huge as she digested that information. “Really?”

“Really. On Vulcan, the sky appears red or orange most of the time due to the iron rich particles in the air. On Andoria, their sun is too far away to completely fill the sky with light, so it is mostly black.”

“Wow. Are there any planets with purple skies?”

“I have not been to any, but it is entirely possible.”

“What about green?”

“Hmmm, Tellar Prime’s sky is somewhat greenish in color at certain times of year.”

“How come you’re green?”

“I am not green.”

“Yes you are.”

“I suppose I might appear greenish to you due to my blood being green.”

“Daddy calls you Ambassador Pointy.”

“I am aware. He has said it to my face on several occasions.”

Serena giggled again. By this point in the conversation, she had ceased sitting criss-cross and was now lolling on the ground holding her feet in what Soval thought looked to be a very uncomfortable position.

“Would you care for some food? Your parents have left some items which they tell me are for your consumption.”

“Okay.” Serena hopped up and skipped alongside Soval to the kitchen, anger from earlier seemingly completely forgotten. Soval smiled inwardly and thought _ahh human children_. It would have taken one of his daughters hours to calm down. Upon reaching the kitchen, Soval examined the items, arching an eyebrow.

“Dinner or snack?” Soval asked her, holding up a frozen pizza in one hand and a cup of yogurt in the other.

“Pizza!”

“Very well,” he examined the package dubiously.

“You enjoy this?” he asked, proffering the pizza.

“I like daddy’s pizza better, but that kind is okay.”

“Your father makes it from scratch?”

“Yup! He lets me help sometimes, too.” Serena bounded over to a drawer and pulled out a worn composition book. On the cover it had the word ‘Recipes’ written in careful, elegant script that clearly did not belong to either Erika or Jonathan. The notebook was bound together on the edges by tape, which had been replaced a number of times. Taking it carefully from Serena, he flipped through the book.  He finally found the one they were looking for. _Homestyle Pineapple Pizza_. He showed the recipe to Serena who nodded and clapped her hands in excitement. 

As it turned out, the recipe was quite simple and Serena was thrilled with both the process and the end results. Sitting at the kitchen table and swinging her legs Serena looked up at Soval and grinned. Her face was smeared with pizza sauce and some of her hair had come out of her ponytail. Soval grabbed a napkin and reached over to wipe her face. She tried to evade him, leaning as far away as possible and pushing futilely at his arm. Soval almost had her face completely wiped when she suddenly slipped out of his grasp and ran giggling down the hallway. Soval sighed and got up to follow.


End file.
